Thursday, December 31, 2015

The year-end is now upon us & I guess I could consider
2015 to be a pretty banner year for myself. I took care of some very old debt,
purchased my first home & for the very first time in my life, successfully
maintained a fully-monogamous (adult) relationship for more than an entire calendar year. I pray the lord continues to bless me throughout the next
year of my life as well. There will be no vision boards completed this
go-round, but don't get it twisted, there are most definitely plenty of images
for 2016 swimming around in this head of mine!

Unfortunately, I did lose some connections with some really
great folk between this year & last, but that happens... people lead very
busy, separate lives in this day & age, so I've definitely learned that there's
no need to take anyone's absence personally, it's just life & business of
course.

Following a wonderful Christmas holiday with my family, I
plan to spend New Year's Eve at home this year. After briefly entertaining the
idea of attending yet another ball, dressed to the nines, I decided I'd simply
prefer a safe, quiet & CHEAP (lol) evening in my humble abode.I'll simply experience NYE
vicariously through the various Facebook & Instagram posts that I see from my friends & family this year. Yea, I'm definitely cool wit that.

Friday, December 18, 2015

Ok, so for pretty much the entire fall, my tape measure & I were attached at the hip (& quite literally too)."Will this fit here? How much room do I need there?" - I imagine all new homeowners probably remember the drill well. But now that the furniture buying, moving & assembly is done, I've been busy upgrading my home with all sorts of residential tech toys. Yunno, completely unnecessary sh!t like a wifi thermostat, smart controlled entertainment hub, room-to-room audio, remote home security services, security webcam network, wireless lighting system, smartphone commanded garage door controller, remotely operated deadbolt, so-on & so fourth.Hmmm... ok, perhaps it's not all so unnecessary after-all. For the sake of argument in this post, let's just call 'em all pieces conveniencetech, yea - we'll go with that for now, lol.Simply put, I've now become obsessed with controlling even the most mundane of activities even when I'm miles away from home - all in an attempt to make my new spot a smarter one. So while I no longer need to pull-out the hammer or paint brush nearly as often, I now live in front of my computer & pretty much know my 16-character wireless network WEP key by heart after performing so many initial setups to get my smart devices & components to play with one another. But I'd say the optional upgrades have all been well worth it thus far. Admittedly, it was a bit of a challenge, trying to limit my purchases to pieces of tech that I thought were likely to catch-on, or would soon become the standard versus those trendy fly-by-night tech ideas that simply aren't practical in real-world application.But I think I managed to make a lot of right choices in that regard & I've even been saving a few coins when it comes to my monthly utility payments, as a result, so I'm most definitely glad I decided to make the place a more efficient one.For the spring, I've got my eye on a remote controlled window shading system for the living room (who's got time to get off their ass just to open & draw-back window shades, lol). But seriously, as with my previous tech investments, it's just a matter of researching my options before settling on the right manufacturer & product.By next winter, I'd really like to get my hands on some sexier, newer & (most importantly) more energy efficient appliances for the home. Help me Lord, I've clearly got myself a bit of a problem here.

Monday, November 30, 2015

Just wanted to make a really quick post to let folk know I'm
still blogging, just been VERY busy this year & never imagined I'd have
such difficulty carving-out time to blog, but if I'm lucky, maybe I'll still
get 10 posts published by the year's end, fingers crossed on that, considering
it's now the start of what will be a bustling holiday season for me.

But as far as what's been happening in my world lately...
I've been very poor - point-blank, period, the end. Lol, I've been pouring
every cent earned right back into my new home. Though I've very much enjoyed
watching the transition from just a new home to my home, it's been a
challenge accomplishing the many tasks, while maintaining continuity in other
areas of my life as well.

All & all, I'd like to think I've managed to sustain the
quality of life I expect for myself fairly well, but boy... I'd be a liar if I
said I hadn't coasted into the past few paydays on fumes alone, lol.

But it's a sacrifice I'm voluntarily making in
order to get some things accomplished ahead of schedule, plus it's
definitely a satisfying feeling to know you're managing a difficult situation.
And now that I've completed my budget for 2016, I can see the light at the end
of the credit debt tunnel & for me, that works just fine.

Monday, August 3, 2015

Over the past two weeks I’ve become a frequent visitor at Target, Bed, Bath & Beyond, Lowe's & also The Home Depot. As you might expect, I've been purchasing new cookware, appliances as well as furniture to make the place mine. I also got myself a taste of my very 1st home
repair bill just days after moving in, as the existing washing machine needed
immediate repair! So it didn’t take long at all for me to realize both the joys AND pit-falls
of home-ownership, lol.

I got the security, water, gas,
electric, Internet & television services all up & running rather
quickly & care packages containing many necessities from close friends
& family continue to roll-in as well - I really couldn’t be more blessed. Each day, something new gets bought, installed or assembled - it's looking more & more like a home.

I'm hoping to throw some sort
of a Super Bowl party/housewarming in February (though I'm not at all a huge party
thrower) - that should give me the time I need to finish decorating & without
going broke to do so! Should everything continue to go according to plan, I'll
have the spot looking the way I want it to by year's end.

So far, I've very much enjoyed
coming home to my place daily, right now, it gives me a new sense of
purpose... I don't even hate going to work (so much) now, lol.

Friday, July 17, 2015

Let me tell you,
the devil was busy at work over the past 24 hours, but I’ve got an awesome God. It took some magic & prayer to get-around some last minute
procedural issues standing between me & settlement, but I successfully
completed the closing process earlier this evening - so I'm now a
homeowner! Some of the features I really like about the area include the many
accessible running trails, the fact that it's both a child & pet friendly
community & also the well-maintained structures & surrounding
landscapes.

It was my
intention to find a home very close to my previous residence. But after months
of research, I realized that if I really wanted to live in a more modern
home, located in a pleasant community with lower crime rates - I'd need to
expand my search area a bit.

Upon broadening
my search, I began to see just the types of 3-level, townhouse style condos I'd
been looking for all along. Sure, the location of my new home adds about 6
miles to my commute to & from work, but to me it's well worth it.

Plus, I'm still just a
10-minute drive from my brother & parents' homes, respectively, so very few
of my daily or weekly routines will need to change as a result of my new
address. Now I can begin to get back to life as normal financially speaking,
might even be able to start eating lunch at work again next week, lol.

Wednesday, July 1, 2015

Ughhh... now that
July is here, we've officially hit those dog days of summer.

It's the
hottest time of the year, here in the east & on top of that, there
aren't any in-season sports on television to occupy my addiction
for organized chaos, corruption & greed. Still, I
absolutely love summer & the illusion of freedom that often
accompanies it, lol. It's the traditional time of year for
graduations, vacations, weddings & other such celebratory events,
so folks' attitudes tend to be a 'bit' more relaxed.

Even though my
financial transactions have been HEAVILY monitored by the budget police, I've
still managed to fit-in a couple of getaways & for that, I'm quite thankful...
another roadtrip or two before the fall hits & I'll be more
than satisfied.

I can hardly
believe half the year is gone already... before you know it, we'll be making
plans for the holiday season. But I'll definitely make it my business to enjoy
what remains of summer, I'm not ready to start wrestling with heavy coats,
scarves & hats just yet.

Monday, June 22, 2015

Earlier today, my agent called to inform me
that my contract offer on a recently viewed property, had been acccepted by the
seller! Now I just have to pay for it… lol. But seriously, my financing is
already in place & my closing costs are all lined-up as well. The sale
is now contingent upon the property passing inspection & appraising for
a specified amount. It's not a done deal just yet, but the
hardest part is over - finding the right home & getting a contract
offer accepted by the seller. Now I can shift my focus toward maintaining (or
even increasing) my current credit score between now & settlement, so
that I can try & lock-in an even better interest rate at closing.

After months of preparing myself
financially & searching for homes, I'm so very excited to finally put
down the listings & start pricing home furnishings, electronic
components, so on & so fourth. I've got some great ideas for what I'd
like to do with the place - I'm SO very blessed & happy to have finally
reached this milestone. Nothing but smiles around here today...

Friday, June 12, 2015

I'm well into my 30s
& for years, I've simply put-off buying a home of my own for various
reasons - chiefly, I just didn't want to deal with the painstaking process of
securing financing & then of course, there's finding that perfect home.
But one day I woke-up this past February & for no reason at all,
decided this would be the year I finally put myself on-track
toward homeownership.

Since that time, I've
taken several home buying & competitive market courses, selected a
real estate agent, secured pre-approval from a lender, set aside money for
estimated closing costs & have recently been touring
properties that have grabbed my attention. I don't have a whole lot of
amenities or features on my must-have list, but the few I've come-up with have
significantly lowered the number of viable properties available to me.

Still, I've indeed been
seeing the types of homes I'm looking for hit the market over the spring
& summer, so I'm fairly confident I'll get an offer accepted
& be able to close by the fall or early winter, when the
market is a little less competitive. Early on, I was discouraged by what I saw
out there, but things have definitely picked-up in terms of inventory, so I'm
certainly gonna hold-out for the perfect home, not just settle for
something with an attractive list price.

I'd be a liar if I said
this entire process hasn't been entirely consuming though... no matter
what I'm doing, home shopping never seems to be far from my mind. Quite
frequently, I find myself immersed in online home listings
at work, watching house hunting shows on HGTV at home &
driving through desirable neighborhoods while out & about.

One thing's for
certain, I'm gonna breathe SUCH a sigh of relief once I'm done with the
forthcoming inspections, appraisals & document signings - just put
the house keys in my hand already & be done with it, lol.

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

On Saturday, I replaced what would have been my 5th annual MCVET 5k race with
the Color Run in Baltimore, MD. It was a fun event – race participants ranged
from the little ones to senior citizens… some running, some walking & some
just flat-out in the way, lol.

The cluttered field indeed turned what should have been a
race into more of an obstacle course, but I wasn’t out there to break any
personal records, I simply needed to complete my annual Memorial Day weekend
race tradition & that, I accomplished!

After running through the many color stations, I definitely
finished the race in vibrant style. Even got myself a medal :-) I didn’t stay
for any of the post-race activities (& there were plenty of them), but the duration
of my holiday weekend was fun as well.

On Sunday, I hit the beach in Ocean City, MD, along with my girlfriend
& others. We enjoyed the day on the beach. A tad windy & cool for our collective liking, but the drive to & from the
beach was traffic-free, scenic & relaxing. Perhaps next time I’ll stay a
night on the beach, versus driving back the same day, as I always do.

Friday, April 17, 2015

It's Friday!!! But a
pretty long one for me - so I've been sitting here at
work, impatiently awaiting the start of the weekend.

To help kill some time, I decided to audit my phone
contacts & weed-out all those who haven't contacted me in well over a
year & visa versa.

In doing so, I was
rather amazed to discover just how many people I've fallen completely out
of touch with over the past year or so. My list of contacts, once an
endless trove of email addresses, telephone numbers, birth dates
& such, has been on the steady decline.

After this official audit, I fear it'll soon be reduced to
a mere list of emergency contacts, lol. But I guess that's to be
expected... I've come to learn that as we grow, our circle of trust shrinks,
rather than expand, but I'm completely ok with that.

Besides, I've become somewhat of a minimalist in recent years,
so the more clutter I'm able to eliminate from my life (both literally &
figuratively speaking), the better I tend to feel. But I do miss
those I'm no longer in contact with on a regular basis.

I have many great memories of wonderful (& admittedly, not so
wonderful) people, so I'm happy to access archived files whenever I find
time to reflect. I may not recognize the number the next time you call, but
know you're not far from mind.